Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elana Frank. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Elana, thanks for joining us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

The nature of working within an infertility organization is that there are many clients’ ranges of emotions to consider. There are unfortunately pregnancy losses and struggles to achieve pregnancy but luckily at this stage in the growth of the Jewish Fertility Foundation (JFF), I’m also privy to witnessing the beauty of helping families achieve their dreams of parenthood. The appreciation and thanks (and cute baby photos and cuddles) I receive from our grantees of our emotional and financial support never gets old. But there is one couple that I have always thought about from years ago. They were not connected at all to the Jewish community and actually came across our JFF brochure within a coffee shop where I used to frequent. Their path to parenthood was not an easy one and I am so fortunate to have played a part in their journey and watch their family grow.

FOUND RENEWED HOPE IN A COFFEE SHOP
“When we discovered that we had infertility issues, it was truly devastating. We never imagined that we would have complications having children. We already had many ideas and plans for how we would raise our children and had such high hopes. We thought we could fix the problem by changing our lifestyle, diet, exercise routine, etc. Although all those changes were positive for our lives, it did not bring us, children. As time passed, we accepted that we needed professional assistance from an infertility specialist. We held out hope that an IUI (Intra Uterine Insemination) or two would do the trick, but unfortunately, they did not bear fruit. We realized that we may need to take it to the next step with an IVF (Invitro Fertilization), which was financially challenging for us.
We were lucky to find a Jewish Fertility Foundation flyer in a coffee shop and made the call. We were received warmly by Elana and company and we did not feel alone anymore. JFF provided us with a generous grant and a wealth of resources and support. JFF gave us renewed hope and confidence that we will achieve our hopes to have a family. We are forever in their debt. We are looking forward to being a JFF success story in the near future.” Yael and Brian Tranter

(SEE PHOTO BABY ANNOUCEMENT – YAEL AND BRIAN TRANTER)

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Imagine not being able to have a child. My children are my everything, and infertility is just not fair. I dream of helping every Jewish person who wants to be a parent afford treatment, feel emotionally supported, and understand their medical options. I never want anyone to feel like I did, alone in my struggles, all those years.

I underwent countless rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, and embryo donation to successfully have my three babies. The journey was lonely, isolating, and hard on my marriage. As a resident of Israel, socialized medicine inexpensively enabled me to have my first two children. When I returned to my hometown of Atlanta, GA in 2015, I found myself in the Atlanta Jewish Community Center pool speaking with other moms about our miracle babies. Suddenly – we were talking about how much our babies cost us – I couldn’t believe so many other people went through this same experience that I did but that they paid thousands of dollars for their children while my first two children were free of cost because I lived in Israel.

Because of my prior experience working within the non-profit sector, I was determined to help others with treatment success, community support, and financial aid to deal with years of miscarriages, unbearable debt, and heartache. I couldn’t believe that there was no local support for the infertile community.

With the realization that cost, education, and access were tremendous stumbling blocks for this “unspoken” issue in the Jewish community, I rallied people behind me and created the Jewish Fertility Foundation (JFF). At first, my goal was to help others with the insurmountable expenses that often prevented them from affording alternate avenues to conceiving (especially when insurance did not cover any of their expenses). Then with the help of others, we learned that it was so much more than money – money is great and so helpful but additionally, people really needed emotional support and educational training.

What that literally looked like was setting up coffee date after coffee date to explain my concept and how it would work, recruit volunteers, and fundraise to make it all happen. It meant many early mornings and late nights (I mean literally waking up at 4 am to work) but the excitement around me was palpable and energizing. That was almost eight years ago now and in my role as CEO/Founder of JFF, I seek to continue to learn new things and new ways of doing things, taking best practices from others and incorporating them in ways that make sense for me and my organization. I honestly feel like I have my dream job, which pushes and challenges me in many ways, especially as JFF scales nationally.

Within my role as CEO/Founder of JFF, I hope to both raise and shift the discussion about infertility within the Jewish community. The Jewish community embraces and celebrates families, but the journey to create those families can be fraught. Because family is so central to Jewish life, many individuals and couples experience tremendous stress and pressure when the path to parenthood is not so simple. Infertility remains taboo, something that, in many communities, is not talked about or openly acknowledged. When people dealing with infertility experience the Jewish community as steeped in pressure and cloaked in shame, the community can become something to avoid, a point of stress and anxiety, and not a refuge or place for connection and support.

JFF is changing the conversation – helping those who need extra support on the road to parenthood while nurturing much-needed culture change on the issue of infertility through direct community-based service. JFF supports intended parents through its proven, successful three-pronged approach: financial assistance (for assisted reproductive technology), emotional support (with face-to-face and virtual support groups and mentorship), and education (for the medical community, Jewish communal leaders, and Jewish individuals and families).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families and individuals struggling with infertility have continued trying to grow their families and have requested even more JFF services. JFF wellness and mental health services increased by 250% in demand, Fertility Grant applications and the financial need for treatment increased dramatically, fundraising efforts increased, and new locations continue to reach out to us to open JFF offices. COVID has been a time of significant organizational growth due to demand.

JFF is now expanding to more locations, creating a national movement of support and community engagement for Jewish people experiencing infertility.

Any advice for managing a team?

I’m constantly thinking about JFF’s organizational culture. I’m in frequent communication with CEOs of other organizations that have grown in a similar fashion to glean lessons and advice that could benefit both JFF and our expansion cities. I believe that it is essential to learn from the decision-makers and to also listen to their staff. Are the staff handbook’s policies and procedures actually implemented? In one case, an organization that offers PTO after childbirth for both women and men was surprised when a husband took leave. In another situation, a new nursing mom did not have the support she needed for travel. I am committed to instituting policies that are consistent and fair to all.

Over the past seven years, we’ve been able to hire three full-time employees and seven part-time staff and interns, all of whom have been women except for one exemplary male college intern. We are committed to flexibility and understanding as to the women who work within our organization balance their work and home life, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to continue building our incredible organizational culture that not only allows for a healthy work-life balance but encourages flexible work schedules with the majority of hours worked during regular business hours. We hire people who get the work done! Evaluation and merit-based on results, not hours.

Additionally, I strive to let my staff know how much I appreciate them by regularly celebrating team accomplishments and recognizing individual contributions to the success of each project. We have recently started a “real-time recognition” initiative to acknowledge small and large accomplishments of staff members who go above and beyond each week in staff meetings and follow up by sending them small gifts as tokens of appreciation.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

Becoming a CEO so early in my career has often been a double-edged sword. While I am thrilled about achieving my dream of becoming a successful CEO in a Jewish non-profit organization, I know that I still have much more work to do and skills to learn. Unlike other organizations, when someone might be groomed for the position, our organization started with me from the ground up. With the growth of our organization, I continue to work with an Executive Coach on learning to be a better mentor and leader, and I am constantly thinking about the work that I need to do both for myself and the organization to improve.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jewishfertilityfoundation.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jewishfertilityfoundation/
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/jewishfertilityfoundation
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elanafrank
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JewishFertility
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeK5_Cnth9yRSP1TV3iz0aA/videos